Light On
by JohnnyCadesChick
Summary: An old forgotten friend comes to help Johnny out...One-shot. Sounds better than it seems. The first time I've done something in Johnny's POV, and just read it! I thought it was an okay idea...


***Ooooookay. So normally I don't make new stories while I'm in the middle of one, but since this is just a one-shot that I just thought of during my Honors Choir rehearsal today, I decided to make an exception. This is my first time doing something in any of the gang's POV, let alone Johnny's. But I've done the best I can, even though he and I are as different as night and day. I don't know how this came up, but I hope you like it! Please review, I want to see how I do on things like this!**

**BTW I saw Twilight…pretty good. Could be better, but I liked it a lot. I liked it when Alice ripped James's head off and Jasper did a weird little war dance around the fire :D***

"Hear about that Soc girl that got killed by her dad last week?" Soda asked no one in particular, kicking his shoes off by the door and flopping on the couch in between Ponyboy and me. I shook my head. "Really? Been all over the papers in everything. Guess the guy was real famous or somethin'…" Soda shook his head.

"Was it Marla Avett?" Pony turned to him and asked. There was something in his eyes that made me think this was more than just curiosity…I don't know how to explain it.

Soda nodded. "Yup. Her brother works at the DX with me'n Steve. He's older though, didn't live with them." Soda sighed, sympathy visible in his eyes. "He's real broken up."

I was searchin' through my head, tryin' to remember…Marla Avett? Her name sounded real familiar…Ponyboy nudged me. "You know Marla, Johnny, 'member? We met her at the movies once. She was hangin' around Two-Bit," he explained to Soda.

MARLA! Now I remembered. Must have been at least six months since I'd seen her last, but I'm not real good at remembering things anyway. The real nice girl with the maple syrup-colored hair. She was real pretty. She was kinda quiet and was a Soc, and that makes me wonder why she was with Two-Bit, but she wasn't mean or anything. And she could make people laugh. She understood things almost as good as Ponyboy did. Talked to her for a couple weeks after that.

I don't know how to explain how Marla was, since I only knew her for a little while. But you could talk to her and feel like you've known her all your life. She found out about my parents…saw my mom chasing me out of the house, attacking me with a broom. She sat me right down on the curb and talked to me, made me feel a whole lot better. Didn't wonder why she wasn't in school at the time, didn't seem important. But somethin' was always bothering her...

But, remembering what Marla was like, I wondered why her dad would do a thing like that. Kill her, you know. She didn't deserve it, she never did anything mean to nobody. Sure, she was a Soc, but she didn't act it. She hung out with the greasers most of the time, the Socs didn't feel her, they thought she was crazy or somethin'.

Even though she didn't have much of a play in my life, I would never forget Marla Avett.

**--------------**

"DAMMIT! GET OUT!"

With a lot of force, my dad pushed me out of the house, so I landed flat on my face on my front porch. I ain't gonna say it didn't hurt, 'cause it did; I'm used to not showing it. I laid there for a minute, trying to control myself in the pain I was in; then I groped for the tiles on the outside of our house to pull me up, and I limped off to the lot. I didn't want to bother the Curtis boys; God knows I spend half the week at their house anyways. They say it's nothin', but I feel like I'm a burden.

So, the lot's my home.

It's not too bad, it just gets real cold at night. I laid down flat on my back, shiverin' somethin' awful; I didn't have any cancer sticks, so I couldn't warm myself up that way. Tried looking up at the stars, but they just looked so…_cold. _I closed my eyes and tried to imagine being in front of a fire, under six real thick blankets…it didn't work. My chattering teeth distracted me.

But then, somethin' real weird happened. Don't know how to explain it. Hadn't seen anything like it in my sixteen years, don't think I ever will again.

"Johnny?" I heard a soft, light voice call out. I looked up. In one of my eyes, my vision had black dots in front of it, so I couldn't see real well. But what I saw…wasn't normal.

It was Marla. _But wait…Marla's dead. It looks like Marla…but not really. _Sure, it looked like Marla. Same colored hair, same big green eyes…but she wasn't alive. She was…I don't know how to say this…shimmering. You know how on those old movies 'bout ghosts, they look all white, and they sorta _glide?_ Yup, that's how Marla looked. I knew she was a ghost, and I was scared outa my mind for that. But since it was Marla, I wasn't as scared as I would have been if it was somebody else. Probably woulda killed myself then.

"Johnny. Are you okay?" She asked, coming toward me. She kneeled down next to me, passing her hand over my arm. Normally, it would have just stayed there…but it passed through. It was freezing, like your whole body was thrown into ice-cold water. It made me shiver, and it was just because she had touched my arm. I couldn't imagine what it'd be like if it was more than that. I backed away from her.

"Johnny? What's wrong?" she demanded, coming back toward me. I backed away a little more.

"Marla…y-you're d-dead!" I stammered, finally speaking. Some little voice in the back of my head suggested the idea that maybe she didn't know that she was dead…

She nodded. "I know…" She looked off into the distance, and then her wistful-looking eyes fell back on me. "But it doesn't mean I don't have to go up to Heaven just yet. Johnny, what are you doin' out here?"

I shrugged. She gave me her _look. _All chicks have one; they pull it out when they're annoyed or somethin'. Sylvia's pulled it on Dallas plenty of times when he's flirtin' with other broads. "Johnny, was it your dad again?" I nodded, avoiding her eyes. "Oh…why don't you stay at Ponyboy's? They don't mind you…" She got a better look at me. "Glory, honey, you look half-dead!" Marla always had this motherly thing about her. Along with being my friend, she was like the mom I never had.

I shook my head. "No…I'm fine," I muttered. _Gee, this is the weirdest day ever…having a conversation with this dead girl I used to know…_I felt like my head was going to explode. It felt all foggy, and I couldn't really think.

She shook her head. "No you're not. Get up, Johnny. I'd pull you up myself if I wasn't…" She studied her hands as she swiped at a tree which normally would have broken her hand. "Well, I'm just not able. Please, try! You need to get in a house."

"No…I've already spent a few nights at their house…"

"No excuses. They wouldn't want you to die out here!" she scolded me. She'd always been a little impatient. But then her expression turned soft. "Johnny…let me put it this way. I have to help someone here on Earth before I go up to Heaven. It's the way I always wanted it to be. Please…you need to get up and help me. It's not far." She stared right into my eyes, which made me feel real uncomfortable. "I believe in you."

Just for her, not even thinking about how strange this was, I slowly eased myself to my feet, hissing in pain. "It's okay, sweetie. Come on, you can do it. You'll be there soon." She stood in front of me, gliding backwards, egging me toward her. "Almost there!"

I panted…this was hard. Everything hurt, and every muscle in my body screamed in agony for me to stop walking. But I was doing it for Marla.

Finally, after almost a half an hour which would have taken me normally about ten minutes, I was there. I sighed in relief. "Come on, Johnny! Go in the front door, you're about there!" Marla encouraged me. The way she was talking made me feel like she was cheering me on at a football game or a track meet or something. I turned the knob and my legs gave out after my first step inside.

"Glory hallelujah!" I heard someone that sounded like Soda yell. "Johnny…can you hear me?"

I looked up at him as he carried me to the couch with Darry, Ponyboy, and Two-Bit crowded around me. "It was Marla, Soda. She helped me get here." Soda had a funny look on his face and his chocolate-colored eyes were narrowed in confusion.

"You hit your head or somethin?"

I looked back in the doorway, and there she was, smiling at me. "Good job, Johnny." She told me softly. I had this weird feeling that I was the only one that could hear/see her. She floated out the door. I knew that was the last I'd see of Marla Avett.

"Kid's out of his mind," Two-Bit said, ruffling my hair. At once, I felt disconnected with my pain, and went into a sea of black.

***Okay, it's not that great. Just a random idea, and it's my first gang's POV, cut me some slack! Please review…I'm really tired…**

**Jenna***


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